The only thing worse than a poorly performing sales team is an idiot manager whose constant delivery of counterproductive messages is the primary cause of the sales team’s failure.
There, I said it.
Not to let bad salespeople off the hook, but sometimes sales leaders are incompetent coaches who bark out dumb goals and even dumber ideas on how to sell. Here are the top six worst turd nuggets ever uttered by sales managers.
1. “If we don’t meet projections, you are all fired.”
How the heck does this help anyone? Many sales managers live and die by sales projections. However, there are multiple ways to forecast and none is wholly reliable. Good managers know there is no such thing as an accurate sales forecast. These things are just educated guesses.
Managers should use projections as goal-setting tools, rewarding those who surpass their part of the forecast numbers but not dishing out any harsh penalties. Instead, managers should offer more training to those who fail to meet projections, or have a heart-to-heart about reassignment or better career choices.
Remember: Creating fear destroys motivation in the long run rather than enhances it.
2. “I visited the customer you closed yesterday. I sold him a bigger unit/better product/etc.”
What could possibly be wrong making unannounced visits to prospects behind the salesperson’s back? Upstaging the salesperson by changing his deal, that’s what.
Even if the sales manager was “only trying to help,” and gives full commission to the original salesperson, it sends the wrong message. The salesperson feels undermined, while prospects feel the seller isn’t competent and that they should deal with the manager on future transactions.
3. “It’s all about the close.”
In an era when the focus is on solution selling or challenging the customer to hire the salesperson to grow his or her business, focusing only on the close is too narrow-minded.
It’s been proven that it takes 12 contacts to make the close, so sales leaders should focus on improving the entire sales process, beginning with networking/prospecting to targeting/research, contacting, closing, and getting referrals (also known as re-networking). Each one of the steps is crucial.
4. “Glad you are one of our top producers, but that’s against company policy.”
Now, I understand that executives have to protect their corporate butts, and that obviously illegal or risky actions from a compliance standpoint are a no-no, but this is too often used to “reign in” creative sellers.
Often in the course of marketing or negotiations, salespeople have to think out of the box and present solutions not pre-authorized by company policy. They might negotiate a discount, a bundle deal or the inclusion of perks specific to the prospect’s situation. They might want to host a Hawaiian luau for prospects or whatever.
As long as the company stands to profit some and move product (and the deal doesn’t violate any laws), managers should trust and allow top sellers to be innovative, particularly when they have a history of making lots of money for their employers.
5. “You were a hotshot in that last job/office/territory. Why do your sales stink here?”
Not all sales locales have the same potential. Expecting sellers to work the same magic in every territory shows a lack of realism and insight. The ability to grow sales is affected by lots of factors including poor existing brand perception in an area, better offerings by the competition, and the harmful activity of prior salespeople. These can take some time to overcome.
The best managers realize every territory comes with its own unique set of challenges and work to solve them as a team, not by blaming the new guy.
True sales leaders realize their words shape the morale, activity and focus of a sales team. By improving the way they communicate, sales managers can better connect and inspire their people, instead of generating a small army of haters.
Want to read some more dumb crap sales managers say? Check this article out.
And if you want deep insight into your particular sales and revenue challenges, give us a shout here at Volohaus. It’s what we do — help businesses make more money.
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